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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Results of the filling of the Spirit (Eph 5:19-21)
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The first result of filling of the Spirit we considered has to do with singing or expressing oneself to others in public worship in words that are intended to benefit them although ultimately the words of the songs should be concerned with praising God and describing our salvation in Christ. The second and third results of the filling of the Holy Spirit are also concerned with singing but this time, the singing is mostly internal but that does not exclude external singing that a person does. Because the second and third results of the filling of the Spirit are concerned with more or less private singing we will consider both of them together. Furthermore, it does not seem that the apostle intended to distinguish sharply with between the second and third result of the filling of the Spirit. In fact, we will argue later that the apostle intended to show that there is a connection between the second and third results of the filling of the Spirit so that they can be considered one result.
In any case, the second and third results of the filling of the Holy Spirit are given in the NIV of verse 19 as Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Let me remind you that we have argued that this interpretative translation of the NIV while possible is not what the apostle meant instead that he meant to convey the results of the filling of the Spirit in the Greek text that literally reads singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. It is our interpretation that the second and third results are related in that the apostle probably mentioned “singing” as a subset of the larger activity of “making melody.” We are saying that apostle intended the expression “making melody” to be an explanation that includes the activity of singing that he mentioned as the second result of the filling of the Spirit. There are two reasons we provide this interpretation. First, the word “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that can be used for explanation with the meaning “that is,” implying that what follows is an explanation of what preceded. Second, the apostle did not use three Greek verbs that correspond to three Greek nouns he used in stating the first result of filling of the Spirit instead he used two of them. He ignored a Greek verb (hymneō) that means “to sing a hymn” or “to sing praises” that is related to the Greek noun rendered “hymns” previously, probably because he considered its meaning to be subsumed in the meaning of the Greek verb that is related to the Greek noun translated “psalms.”
The word “singing” or “sing” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (adō) that is used to translate many Hebrew words in the Septuagint. It is used to translate a Hebrew word (tôḏāh) that means “song of thanksgiving” used in Jeremiah 30:19:
From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing. I will add to their numbers, and they will not be decreased; I will bring them honor, and they will not be disdained.
It is used in the Septuagint for a Hebrew word (pāṣǎḥ) that can mean “to break into singing”, “to be cheerful” or “to be serene” in Psalm 98:4:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
The expression burst into jubilant song with music in the Septuagint reads sing and rejoice exceedingly and sing psalms. Our Greek word is used five times in the NT; twice by the apostle in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 and three times in Revelation with the meaning “to sing” in praise. It is used for the new song sang to the Lamb, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, in Revelation 5:9:
And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
It is used for singing of a new song before the throne, that is, God and before the living creatures in heaven in Revelation 14:3:
And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
The word is used for singing of the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, that is, Jesus Christ in Revelation 15:3:
and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.
The Greek word is used in our passage of Ephesians 5:19 in the sense of singing that involves cheerfulness or to break into singing.
The expression “making melody” or “make music” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (psallō) that originally meant “to touch” then “to pluck” the string, especially, of the string of a bow so as to cause it to vibrate. It is used in the Septuagint to translate a Hebrew word (zāmǎr) that means “to sing praise”, “to play an instrument”, that is, to make music that is used in Psalm 149:3:
Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
The instruction make music to him with tambourine and harp in the Septuagint reads with tambourine and harp let them sing psalms to him. It is used in the Septuagint for a Hebrew word (nāḡǎn) that means “to play a stringed instrument” used in Psalm 68:25:
In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines.
The phrase the musicians is rendered in the Septuagint as the players on instruments since the Greek used the participle of our Greek word. In the NT, the meaning is in keeping with that of the OT usage so means to sing songs of praise, with or without instrumental accompaniment hence it means “to sing, sing praise.” Besides our passage of Ephesians 5:19 where the Greek word is translated “make music” by the translators of the NIV, the word is used in three other passages in the Greek NT where the translators of the NIV rendered it differently. It is rendered “sing hymns” in Romans 15:9:
so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.”
The expression “sing hymns” of the NIV is better translated “sing praises” since the sentence I will sing hymns to your name is quoted from Psalm 18:49:
Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name.
The expression “sing praises” is translated from the Hebrew word (zāmǎr) that we previously mentioned that means “to sing praise”, “to play an instrument”, that is, to make music. Thus, it is probably better to use the expression “sing praises” than “to sing hymns” of the NIV in Romans 15:9. That aside, our Greek word is translated “sing” twice by the translators of the NIV since the Greek word appears twice in 1 Corinthians 14:15:
So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
The word “sing” of the NIV is translated “sing praises” in some English versions or “sing psalms” or “sing hymns” in others. The Greek word is translated “to sing song of praise” by the translators of the NIV in James 5:13:
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
The instruction let him sing songs of praise is more literally he should sing praise although some English versions rendered our Greek word here as “sing psalms.”
We have seen the various meaning of the Greek word translated “make music” in the NIV of our passage of Ephesians 5:19 but there is a problem as to how it should be translated in our passage. This problem is due primarily to two factors. A first factor is that the apostle used the Greek word translated “sing” in connection with the second Greek word that we noted can also mean “to sing”, so some feel the need to distinguish the two. A second factor is that our Greek word translated “make music” in the NIV has traditionally been used in two ways in the Septuagint. It is used in the Septuagint in Psalms in the sense of singing that is accompanied with musical instrument as in Psalm 97:5 of the Septuagint or in the English Bible Psalm 98:5:
make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
The instruction make music to the Lord with the harp is translated in the Septuagint as sing to the Lord with the harp so it is clear that our Greek word implies singing that is accompanied by a musical instrument. Another usage of our Greek word in the Septuagint involves singing without any musical instrument as it is used in Psalm 107:4 in the Septuagint that corresponds to our English Bible of Psalm 108:3:
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
In translating the Septuagint of this psalm, the Greek word could be translated also as “sing praises.” Because of these two factors we have mentioned, our Greek word is translated in different ways in our English versions. Some English versions such TEV and CEV did not translate it directly, implying that its meaning is the same as the first Greek word translated “sing.” The NAB used the word “playing” while the NJB used the meaning “chant” in their translation probably because that is one of the meanings of the Greek word listed in Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods (From B. C. 146 to A. D. 1100) by Sophocles. The rendering “playing” is very unlikely for the reason that although our Greek word also means to play musical instrument but it seems that gradually the meaning of playing musical instrument was overtaken by the meaning “to sing” or that the meaning “to sing” became dominant so that in modern Greek the meaning of the word is simply “to sing” or “to chant” without any reference to musical instrument. Furthermore, it is likely that the early church may not have used musical instrument as they did not want to give any impression that their worship has anything in common with pagan worship and also the apostle being originally a Pharisee may not be advocating use of musical instruments since Pharisees did not favor the use of musical instruments in worship. Of course, we should be aware that there is no direct passage in the NT that forbids the use of instrument in worship. To translate our Greek word as “to play” will imply a direct instruction of using musical instrument in worship but that is not directly stated. We are saying that there is no direct instruction for or against musical instrument in any other passage in the Greek NT so that those who will use the meaning “play” to support the idea of playing musical instrument in worship are on a shaky ground The Scripture does not say one way or the other. Anyway, considering the factors we have mentioned the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG suggests the meaning “make melody” for our second Greek word we have considered in Ephesians 5:19, leading majority of our English versions to use the meaning “make music.” This seems to be what the apostle intended as this meaning is general in nature.
The translation of our Greek word as “to make melody” or “to make music” does not in and of itself fully account for the apostle’s use of the two Greek words that literally read singing and making melody or in the words of the NIV sing and make music. As we indicated previously, it is our interpretation that the second Greek word translated “making melody” or “making music” is used by the apostle to explain further what he meant with the first one. The apostle used the Greek verb that is derived from the Greek noun (ōdē) translated “songs” that we indicated refers to song not directly derived from the Scripture but are indeed songs composed by those who understand the Scripture or the song that is prompted by the Holy Spirit so that the one who sings uses words that are not directly from the Scripture but are words that communicate truths about salvation in language of a given group of believers. He skipped using a Greek verb that means to “sing hymn” in favor of our Greek word that original refers to singing songs with or without instrument. It seems that the reason he did this is so that the reader would recognize that when the apostle indicated that singing that is primarily a personal or private singing as another result of the filling of the Spirit that the believer should understand the second singing in a comprehensive manner that will include singing of hymns or psalms or any other song that is intended to praise God for His work, especially, that of salvation. There are three reasons for this interpretation. First, as we have already indicated, the Greek conjunction translated “and” in our passage could be understood as marker of explanation so that it means “that is,” implying that what follows explains what preceded. Second, we had earlier shown that there is a connection between the Greek word translated “hymns” and that translated “psalms” in that hymns would include psalms but will also include words derived from Scripture in general in the praise of God. Therefore, when the apostle used a Greek verb that is associated with the Greek word that means “psalms” it was to show that he meant songs of praises that will include hymns and singing of psalms. Third, it is because in a parallel passage to our passage, that is, Colossians 3:16, the apostle used only the first Greek verb (adō) used in Ephesians 5:19 to cover the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as we read in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The point then is that the Greek word translated “making music” or “making melody” is intended to be comprehensive in describing singing of songs that could be considered the result of the filling of the Spirit. The implication is that songs of praises to God can be offered in several ways. It could involve singing of psalms or singing of monotonous or repetitive songs that are short which some describe as chorus. In any event, the apostle intended to give us the second and third result of the filling of the Spirit as singing of songs that is carried out not necessarily in a public worship forum but that can be carried out privately.
It is our assertion that the second and third results of the filling of the Spirit are concerned with singing of songs that are not necessarily public as in the first singing that encourages others but that they are private in nature or inwardly. This assertion is based on the last phrase of Ephesians 5:19 in your heart to the Lord. This phrase is not as simple as it appears in the NIV and in majority of our English versions. This is primarily because the preposition in of the NIV does not appear in the Greek but it is one of the ways that the Greek construction that involves the word “heart” can be translated. The Greek syntax permits the phrase to be read in different ways in the English. It can be read to mean that the phrase describes means or instrument of singing so that the Greek phrase could be rendered with your heart as implied in the ISV. Another understanding of the Greek phrase is to take the phrase as referring to the manner of singing so it can be translated with all your heart as implied in the translation of the RSV or the CEV. Another interpretation of the Greek phrase could mean that it is the place or source of the singing leading to the translation from your heart of the REB. There is another difficulty. The translation that we have in the NIV and majority of our English versions of in your heart is subject to two interpretations. It could mean the heart is the place of the singing or that it describes the manner of singing. These various translations are possible and fit the context. So how are we to understand the phrase in your heart to the Lord? To help answer the question we need to examine briefly the word “heart.”
The word “heart” is translated from a Greek word (kardia) that is not used in the NT in a literal sense of the organ that circulates blood throughout the body. Instead, the Greek word is used in figurative senses. It can refer to the “center”, “interior”, “middle” of something as it is used to describe the Sheol or the realm of the dead where Jesus was to spend three days and night, as in Matthew 12:40:
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The phrase heart of the earth may be translated deep in the earth or deep in the ground. The Greek word can refer to the inner self or innermost being as the source of sinful conducts as the word is used in Matthew 15:18–19:
18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
The Greek word can refer to the center and source of physical life so that the word is used for the “person himself.” It is in this sense that our Greek word translated heart is used in Acts 14:17:
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Heart here refers to the person himself so that some English versions do not use the word “heart” in their translation. For example, the sentence he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy is rendered and satisfying you with food and happiness in the CEB, and the GWT translated it as He fills you with food and your lives with happiness. The translators of the NIV reflected this meaning of taking the Greek word rendered heart as a reference to the person himself in James 5:5:
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
The sentence you have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter is more literally you have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. The word can mean “mind” as a center of inner awareness as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 2:9:
However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—
The meaning “mind” can also refer to the center of will and decisions as the word is used by the apostle with respect to giving in 2 Corinthians 9:7:
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
The phrase in his heart is rendered your mind in some English versions such as the NRSV and the CEV. The Greek word can refer to conscience as that is the sense in Romans 2:15:
since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
It is certainly in the sense of conscience that our Greek word is used in 1 John 3:20:
whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
The part of our inner being that condemns or acquits us is the conscience so that the use of the word “heart” here refers to “conscience”; that is the reason the translators of the NET used the word “conscience” instead of “heart” in their translation. In our passage of Ephesians 5:19, the Greek word is used either in the sense of the mind or the inner life in contrast to the lips or mouth as the word is used in Matthew 15:8:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
The sentence their hearts are far from me means that the people either do not hold God dear or that they do not think much about God or both.
Our interpretation of the heart as a reference to the “inner life” or “mind” indicates that the Greek phrase rendered in your heart in Ephesian 5:19 is a loaded one that reflects means/instrument, manner, and place of singing. Thus, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul indicates that singing should involve the use of a person’s thought and be focused in that the person gives full attention to the words of the song as the person sings from the inner being of the person that is controlled by the Holy Spirit. It does not matter where the singing is carried out whether in public worship or in private worship, it requires that the believer should apply his or her mind in singing as that is implied in 1 Corinthians 14:15:
So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
The point we need to stress is that singing that is a result of the filling of the Spirit should involve the use of the mind where one reflects on the words of the song. In any event, there is both private and public singing that should be the result of the filling of the Spirit. Both private and public singing have been addressed in Ephesians 5:19 but it is the private singing that is the focus of the instruction of James in the passage we cited previously, that is, James 5:13:
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
A person involved in the singing that results from being filled of the Spirit should use the individual’s thought, pay full attention, and involve the mind or the inner being of the person because such a person is singing to the One who is not at this time visible to the human eyes but is visible to the spiritual eyes or mind. This is a reason the apostle wrote the last phrase to the Lord of Ephesians 5:19. The believer is singing in praise of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ as He is the One meant in the word Lord in our phrase.
We should emphasize that whether a person sings privately to the Lord or as part of public worship that if such is carried out under the filling of the Spirit then such singing will involve the mind in the sense that a person will be thoughtful of the words used in the songs. The person will focus to the meaning of the words in the songs. So, the song that is a result of the filling of the Holy Spirit is not mindless singing or chanting but a reflective kind of singing in which one thinks of the words of the song as to how they convey truth about God. Certainly, singing involves emotion but such emotion should be governed by understanding of the words of the song. A person under the filling of the Spirit will reflect emotion of appreciation for what God has done for the individual in Christ as the person sings the words of the song in view. Of course, this assumes that the song contains words that reflect truth about God since there are probably many songs that appeal to the emotion but are lacking spiritual truths. We are saying that when you sing under the filling of the Spirit, you should do so jubilantly but you should not lose sight of the fact that you should be reflective of the words you sing.
Choir or Congregational singing
The results of the filling of the Spirit that we considered that are concerned with singing raise a question as to the kind of singing that should take place in worship in a local congregation. This has been a vexing problem in the church today. William Booth, a minister, in the nineteenth century was tormented, so to say, between choir and congregational singing. He supported hearty congregational singing, he did not approve of people gaining prominence in a fellowship merely because they had pleasant voices. He said that he found choirs infested with three devils—the quarreling devil, dressing devil, and courting devil.[1] An advocate for choir in his argument said that no one he knew has argued that the congregational prayer should be voiced by the entire congregation. But when it comes to the choir performing a similar role, many Reformed Christians have expressed doubts.[2] This, of course, is not a good argument for the simple reason that prayer and singing are different activities that may be involved in worship. Furthermore, we are not certain of how the early church prayed together in the record we have about the church praying in Acts 4:24:
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
We do not know how the early church prayed together although some one has suggested they might have followed the Jewish liturgical procedure of using a leader who prayed a phrase at a time, with the others repeating phrase by phrase. But we cannot be certain and so it is not a good argument to support use of choir in worship situation by simply arguing that no one objects to one person praying on behalf of the congregation. In any event, we need to consider this question of whether congregational singing or the use of choir is more appropriate in Christian worship situation. To consider this problem, there are two main facts that we need to state.
A first main fact is that there was a specialized class of singers in the OT time. These singers were classified into two groups. Those who are in involved in general singing outside of worship in the temple or in the procession leading to worship in the temple and those who sing specifically in the worship in the temple. This classification is warranted by the fact that the OT Scripture uses the word “singers” for men and women in different situations that involve singing. There is the general singers of men and women that Barzallai the old, rich man that assisted David during the Absalom’s revolt referenced as he complained of his loss of hearing due to old age and lack of interest in pleasures of this life as a result of old age, by mentioning men and women singers in 2 Samuel 19:35:
I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
It does not seem that Barzallai meant those who sing in the temple worship but to singers in general. This is not the only reference to men and women singers in the OT Scripture. The lamentation composed by Jeremiah to mourn King Josiah is said to be sung by men and women singers in 2 Chronicles 35:25:
Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.
The solemn procession that leads to worship in the sanctuary composed of men and women singers, according to Psalm 68:24–25:
24Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. 25In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines.
The procession in view consists also of female members because of the word “maidens” refers to young girls of marriageable age. The fact that general singers consists of men and women is also derived from Solomon’s acquisition of musicians, as stated in Ecclesiastes 2:8:
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man.
The singers Solomon acquired were primarily for his own entertainment. Beside the mention of singers in the situations we have cited, there is the specialized singers in connection with the worship in the temple. So, we have a reference to specialized singers who led in praise and worship service during the coronation of King Joash, according to 2 Chronicles 23:13:
She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with musical instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
The singing of the specialized class of singers during worship in the temple that involved sacrifice is evident also during the time of King Hezekiah, as we read in 2 Chronicles 29:27–28:
27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.
This specialized class of singers was introduced in Israel in the time of King David, as we read in 1 Chronicles 15:16:
David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.
The specialized class of singers in the temple were Levites and they were all men, especially, since the word “brothers” is used. This notwithstanding, there are those who infer that women were also included in this class of singers because of what is stated in 1 Chronicles 25:5:
All these were sons of Heman the king’s seer. They were given him through the promises of God to exalt him. God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
Those who contend that women were included in the specialized class of singers do so based on the fact that Heman had also three daughters but apparently those who claim this ignore the next verse that indicates only men were the singers, as we read in 1 Chronicles 25:6:
All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.
The truth is that the specialized class of singers who performed in the temple were Levites and priests, as indicated in 2 Chronicles 29:26–27:
26 So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets. 27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel.
After the exile, these singers comprised of descendants of Asaph, according to Ezra 2:41:
The singers: the descendants of Asaph 128
The same point is stated in Nehemiah 11:22:
The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers responsible for the service of the house of God.
By the way, the descendants of Asaph were all Levites, as stated in Ezra 3:10:
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel.
This class of specialized singers in the temple were under the control of King David before the exile (see 1 Chronicles 25:6) and after the exile their activities were also regulated by the king, according to Nehemiah 11:23:
The singers were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity.
These specialized singers being Levites were supported by the people as also evident that after the exile a reference to their support is given in the following passages:
Nehemiah 12:47:
So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.
Nehemiah 13:5:
and he had provided him with a large room formerly used to store the grain offerings and incense and temple articles, and also the tithes of grain, new wine and oil prescribed for the Levites, singers and gatekeepers, as well as the contributions for the priests.
We have been using the term “specialized singers” to describe those who performed in the temple. However, the term “choir” was applied to them when the temple was rebuilt after the exile. We are saying that the specialized singers were not described with the word “choir” until the time of the returnees from exile. If you do a quick search using the concordance for the NIV you will dispute what I have stated because the first mention of the word “choir” to describe this specialized class of singers occurred before the exile in 1 Chronicles 15:27:
Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the singers, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod.
The word “choir” does not appear in the Hebrew text. The sentence Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs is more literally Kenaniah the chief of the singing. The Hebrew word (tôḏāh) for “choir” appears thirty-two times in the Hebrew text with different meanings. For example, it is used twenty times with the meaning of “thanksgiving”, as we find, for example, in Nehemiah 12:27:
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.
However, the word is used three times in the OT Scriptures with the meaning “choir” with its first usage being in Nehemiah 12:31:
I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.
The last usage of the Hebrew word with the meaning “choir” is to inform us that the choirs had a special seating assigned to them in the rebuilt temple in Nehemiah 12:40:
The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials,
Anyway, before we leave this main fact that there was a specialized class of singers in the OT time, it is worthwhile to give you a sample of the kind of song they sang in 2 Chronicles 5:13:
The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud,
A second main fact is there is no mention of a specialized class of singers in the NT Scripture. This means that the concept of choir was not known in the early church. It seems that only congregational singing was practiced in the early church. We put it that way because we have no example of congregational singing in the early church but we have instructions in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 that suggest a congregational singing. Furthermore, we have a testimony of an unbeliever recorded in secular history that supports this assertion. We are informed that in a letter written to the Roman Emperor Trajan by Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia about A. D. 110, Pliny described what he had learned about the Christians and their worship. “They are accustomed to meet,” he says, “on a fixed day before daylight to sing a hymn of praise to Christ as God.” The hymn was done antiphonally (antiphony is a responsive alternation between two groups especially in music) to Christ. This testimony of Pliny suggests the early church was involved in congregational singing. If choir was not specified in the NT worship and was not even used in the first few hundred years of the church, how then did choir become a part of Christian worship as it is done today in many denominations?
The development of choir as applied in Christian worship can be traced to the time of Constantine’s reign when choir was established to help celebrate the Eucharist. Certainly, this practice was adopted from the Roman custom that began imperial ceremonies with processional music. The members of the choir were trained and given the status of a second-string clergy.[3] Choir in and of itself has a pagan origin since the Greek had trained choirs that accompanied their worship. We are told that in the Hellenistic and especially the imperial period, there was the existence of boys’ choir. This is probably the root of the Christian boys’ choirs that dates to the time of Constantine although most of them were created from orphanages. Also, we have a choir of ephebes that sings at the solemn opening of the temple of Dionysus in Teos.[4] In any event, it was the Roman church that introduced the choir into Christian worship using concept borrowed from pagan world. In fact, with the introduction of choir congregational singing was banned by AD 367 replaced by the singing of the trained choir. It is not our intention to go into full history of the origin of choir other than to show that it had a pagan origin and it was brought into Christian worship through the Roman church and those who practice it today owe their use of it to the Roman church. Of course, if you are interested in a more detailed historical information of how the choir came to be in some local churches today then I direct your attention to our website to the topical study of “Challenges of Christianity”, specifically lessons 15 and 16.
Be that as it may, our concern is to determine the appropriateness of choir or congregational singing in Christian worship. Because of the two main facts we have presented, it is safe to say that based on biblical information in the NT that the form of singing that is more in keeping with the NT is that of congregational singing. A person could argue that because choir existed in the OT times therefore that it forms the pattern for choir in Christian church. There are at least three problems with such argument. First, the early church who knew of this did not adopt it. Second, the choir of OT cannot be applied because it involved only the Levites and priests whereas every believer in the church is a priest and so if only priests or the Levites were the only members of the choir then it argues for all believers to be members of the choir implying a congregational form of singing. Third, Christian worship is decidedly different from the worship under Levitical system. In fact, because we have a new kind of high priest, we know that we are not to be a part of anything that belongs to the Levitical priesthood. This is the point of the human author of Hebrews in Hebrews 7:12:
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.
The change in the law because of the change in priesthood from Levitical to that of Jesus Christ means a change in form of worship. The change in law of worship means that we cannot adopt anything that is associated with Levitical priesthood in our worship. The choir system was clearly a part of the Levitical priesthood worship. Therefore, to be more biblical in singing in the Christian worship, it is the congregational singing that should be adhered.
[1] Holz, R. W. (1990). The Story behind Salvation Army Music. Christian History Magazine-Issue 26: William & Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders.
[2] Webber, R. (1994). Music and the arts in Christian worship (1st ed., Vol. 4, p. 469). Nashville, TN: Star Song Pub. Group.
[3] Liemohn, E., The Organ and Choir in Protestant Worship, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968), 8.
[4] Kittel, G., Bromiley, G. W., & Friedrich, G. (Eds.). (1964–). Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 8, pp. 491–492). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.